thought leadership: the next wave in b2b marketing - laura ramos, forrester

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Thought Leadership: The Next Wave In B2B MarketingLaura Ramos, Vice President & Principal Analyst

Kansas City BMA, #BMAKCNovember 18, 2015

Business buyers don’t buy your product,

they buy into your approach to solving their problem

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Today, we will talk about ….

› What is thought leadership marketing?

› Why does it matter to your business?

› Introducing IDEA: a guide to marketing your thought leadership effectively

› Examples of engaging thought leadership

› Discussion and recommendations

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Thought leadership vs. TL marketing

Source: Wikimedia Commons: Seth Godin in 2009,

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Thought Leadership MarketingBig ideas and POVs on Customer’s issues

+ Sharing+ Dialog (before buying)+ Exchange of Value

= Trusted source

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Thought Leadership sits at the pinnacle of content marketing strategy

Source: 2015 Forrester Report, “Nurture Thought Leadership To Nurture Your Brand”

True Thought Leadership – the market decides…

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Let’s continue to talk about ….

› What is thought leadership marketing?

› Why does it matter to your business?

› Introducing IDEA: a guide to marketing your thought leadership effectively

› Examples of engaging thought leadership

› Discussion and recommendations

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Source: October 10, 2013 “Competitive Strategy in the Age of the Customer” report.

The Age of the Customer empowers your buyers – makes them harder to engage

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How can you compete for attention?

Source: http://blog.allegranetwork.com/

Perpetually connectedTime-pressed

Overrun with choicesSeeking context

Not always rational

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Content explains how you solve problems

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Source: Forrester/BMA/OMI May 2014 Global Content Marketing Benchmark Online Survey and July 16, 2014, “Compare Your B2B Content Marketing Maturity” Forrester report

Yet B2B marketers admit their content doesn’t engage buyers or deliver value

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B2B buyers don’t find it engaging

© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 16Image source: https://infocus.emc.com/chris_gaudlip/forget-virtual-reality-reality/

68% want vendors who “understand my business, my problems – and help me solve them”

50% want vendors “to share insights with me that I haven’t considered.”

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Let’s continue to talk about ….

› What is thought leadership marketing?

› Why does it matter to your business?

› Introducing IDEA: a guide to marketing your thought leadership effectively

› Examples of engaging thought leadership

› Discussion and recommendations

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Forrester’s four-step IDEA framework

ID

Identify your target audience, their issues, and the sources of information they trust.

Develop your thought leadership platform: the ideas and content that express the company’s positions.

E Engage your audience through a considered mix of digital, social, and traditional channels.

A Assess the impact on your business and revise or reinvest.

Source: 2015 Forrester Report, “Nurture Thought Leadership To Nurture Your Brand”

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IndustryIssues

BrandPlatform

Strong brands set the stage for strong thought leadership

Thought

Leadership

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True thought leadership embodies bold attributes

Source: 2015 Forrester Report, “Nurture Thought Leadership To Nurture Your Brand”

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Xerox praises stubbornness

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Make TL platform broad but specific

Big Idea

Position Position ThemePositio

n

Position• A hierarchy of ideas

• Similar to a political platform

• Centered on customer cares

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TL delivers real business results

Recognition as expert More inbound inquiries, short lists

Philosophically-aligned buyers Faster sales cycles

Differentiation Higher close rates, selling prices

Sharing & WOM Greater reach at lower cost

Emotional connection and trust Increased customer loyalty

More valuable to customers Higher lifetime value

Understanding of customer/market issues

Better product/service fit

Admired in industry Attract and retain top talent

TL helps achieve: Which results in:

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Let’s continue to talk about ….

› What is thought leadership marketing?

› Why does it matter to your business?

› Introducing IDEA: a guide to marketing your thought leadership effectively

› Examples of engaging thought leadership

› Discussion and recommendations

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Source: http://www.greendatacenternews.org/standard/about/

Verne Global shares green data center best practices

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Mercer features thought leaders to create engaging conversation

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ChiefMartec keeps tabs on a burgeoning technology landscape

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Cognizant uses research to explore key customer issues and trends

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KPMG: highlights global perspectives

Source: World Economic Forum Live (http://weflive.com/)

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Source: Owens-Illinois (http://glassislife.com/)

O-I speaks to socially significant issues

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TEDMED tackles difficult problems

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›Know where you are….

›Focus on customer issues: be relevant and provocative

›Strive to create conversation, not leads

›Foster company-wide commitment

›Get disciplined: create an editorial calendar

›Report on business results

How do you get started?

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›Focus on one key audience to start

›Develop your “platform”

›Collaboratively select thought leaders

›Decide what to share without expectation of return

›Create – and continue – conversations

Use the IDEA framework to guide TL

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Questions?

Thank you

forrester.com

Laura Ramoslramos@forrester.com@lauraramos

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